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Well weirdos, I’m at A-Camp right now. Which means I’m hoping that nothing big happened in the tech world this week because I am writing this post approximately one million years in advance. I’m doing this because when I go camping, especially A-Camping, I want to unplug and unwind. Turns out, though, there are some weird camping technologies out there in the world. Some of them sound cool and useful. Others sound bizarre and I wonder what the hell these camping people are doing. Is this that glamping thing the kids are doing these days?

3. Hand Crank Blender

4. Wrist-Mounted Mosquito Repelling System

5. WrapStove

6. Portable Shower

I think this image is funnier than anything I could ever write regarding this apparent travesty:

7. Double Flash Light.

Lights what’s ahead and where your feet go. Marketed to senior citizens. Should be marketed to tipsy/tired queers on a mountain navigating the dark and avoiding bears.* *These two groups are not mutually exclusive.

10. Tauntaun Sleeping Bag

This has been the eightieth installment of Queer Your Tech with Fun, Autostraddle’s nerdy tech column. Not everything we cover is queer per se, but we talk about customizing this awesome technology you’ve got. Having it our way, expressing our appy selves just like we do with our identities. Here we can talk about anything from app recommendations to choosing a wireless printer to web sites you have to favorite to any other fun shit we can do with technology.Feature image via ShutterstockHeader by Rory Midhani

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17 Comments

As a hardcore “tents are overrated, mosquitos are your friends and dying in the wilderness is fun” camper, to me, calling an air mattress a camping gadget is almost offensive, but that Scrubba Wash Bag may have just moved to #1 on my list of things I would buy if I wasn’t a poor student…

i totally need that double flash light thing for winning festival season. just how awesome would it be to simply walk to the toilets without falling over other tents/people sleeping outside? also, the tauntaun sleeping bag. SO rock’n’roll.

The Wrap Stove actually looks brilliant! There are many situations where open fires are not permitted. And if I could replace my backpacking stove + fuel setup with this, I’d love it! Can’t find any sites where it’s actually for sale though…

As someone who goes camping in Wales, I appreciate the need for the Scubba bag, but in reality, getting my clothes wet is never a problem, It’s getting them any dryer than soggy that I find the hardest part.

I can vouch for the BioLite being completely awesome and handy. For situations where you don’t have enough wood around (or just don’t feel like) building a fire to cook or boil water, this thing is awesome… it can boil water in minutes and all you need are a few twigs and pine cones. Fire starters help if you’re in a rainy area. And you don’t have to carry around tanks of propane! It is super light. The iphone charger thing is really just a side benefit.

The biolite looks super useful, actually. If I weren’t a poor college student, it’d definitely go on my list of gear I’m planning on buying. (It might still go on my list of gear to buy because it’s cheaper than I thought (way cheaper than another kayak anyway). And I currently don’t have a camping stove. And I’ll want one this summer if nothing changes as far as getting a roof over my head for August.)

The scrubba doesn’t look like it’s worth the money though. It’s literally a dry bag with some bumpy stuff on the inside, and I could definitely jerryrig something for far cheaper. Especially since I have a drybag already.

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